Is rental history important?

P

PCdog

My last tenant just moved out who still owes me 1 week rent. He didn't have previous rental history. I'm now wanting to look for a new tenant with previous rental history and found that half of them without. Do you think it's too much to insist on a good rental history?

Then, I have one applicant with reasonable rental history (not perfect, sometimes pay rent late), but has to give 21 days notice to the existing PM. Would you wait 3 weeks for such a tenant who is the only one with "good enough" rental history?

My property has been on the market for about 10 days. I received 5 applicants so far. Should I wait for another Sat open house?

Thanks.
 
PCdog said:
My last tenant just moved out who still owes me 1 week rent. He didn't have previous rental history. I'm now wanting to look for a new tenant with previous rental history and found that half of them without. Do you think it's too much to insist on a good rental history?

Do you think it's too much for the bank to ask you for proof of savings, available equity and servicibility before handing over funds for you to borrow and invest/spend.? :confused:


Then, I have one applicant with reasonable rental history (not perfect, sometimes pay rent late), but has to give 21 days notice to the existing PM. Would you wait 3 weeks for such a tenant who is the only one with "good enough" rental history?

My property has been on the market for about 10 days. I received 5 applicants so far. Should I wait for another Sat open house?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Learn your lesson from your previous experience. Even if you don't get the one week's rent, it's a cheap lesson. No trashing or deliberate malicious damage is a bonus. ;)

On occasions you may have former owner occupiers who choose to rent for a period due to building a new home, or temporary relocation or other reasons. Mostly however you would have tenants who have no history (or claim not to) because (even if they weren't reported to TICA or similar) no one would provide an ongoing reference.

Your call. If your property is priced appropriately for the suburb and condition it's in, you need to weigh up whether you wait 21 days for someone moderately acceptabnle or keep it oj the market to see what else comes up.

Oh, and if you do wait the 21 days for the applicant you have, ensure you have a signed lease with a few weeks rent NOW, or you may find you are left holding the baby when they change their mind :cool:
 
Rental history is only one factor in many to be considered.

As above, if you want to wait for the tenant, ensure leases are signed and bond registered.
 
Thanks for the advice. In hindsight, I think my previous tenant lied to me that he was living in his own home but had to move out with his son after spliting with his ex. He was behind in rent since the 2nd month and could be behind for a whole month until the last day of termination notice expired. That's why I want to find someone with reasonable rental history.

My house is in very good condition and priced in the higher range in the area, but I believe it is reasonably priced. There are quite a few of interests, and almost all viewers put in their applications.

I have a feeling that I should take this applicant, maybe because of my pushy PM who thinks that I'm picky and sounds like she has wasted her time checking the references etc.... :confused:
 
We have found the same thing here. We haven't had tenants in our IP's with previous rental history for quite some time. The last time we were looking for tenants none of the people applying had any rental history. Not that we were overwhelmed with applications anyway.

We do the three month trial thing too. Mostly it works out ok. The most recent couple of tenancies I remember working out like this. Tenants number one were model tenants for the three months, but when we renewed the lease things started to slide a bit. Tenants number two started off being a bit demanding but settled down when the three month period was getting close to ending. Obviously they were nervous that we wouldn't renew. We did and they have turned out to be good tenants.
 
Lols I remember when I built it was at the time when there were auctions for rental properties. I sold my unit to buy a block of land and build, so needed to rent in the mean time.

Funny thing was; I was at a major disadvantage as had no rental records, but found an agent that could read the writing on the wall as provided pictures sales docs bank details etc.

It was an interesting experience as learnt what it can be like as a renter, I phoned the agent looking after a rental property of mine to make sure my renter was being treated with respect and listened to.

Here is an example, the person was still there when I viewed the property. I noted that the main bedroom had two slats of the vertical blinds missing but thought it would be rectified prior to my moving in. Nope and when I approached the young person in the agent their resposne was "It was like that when you viewed it wasnt it?" This was just one of the things, I ended up writing a long letter which I hope benefited future renters from this agent as they certainly gave me more respect after that.

Bit off topic I guess, cheers all
 
I think rental history is very important - but you can usually meet someone and know what they could be like.

Maybe try a 6 month lease as it's a lot harder for people with a bad rental history to remain good tenants for that amount of time.

Also, if you've got a pushy PM, who is pushing an application that isn't so great, perhaps you should reconsider whether they are working for you, or just trying to lease the property as quick as possible.

Also, with regards to wanelad - if the missing blinds were there at the time of inspection and in the condition report, you should've mentioned you wanted them fixes before paying bond and rent towards the property, because you've signed the report to say you acknowledge that they were broken, then the LL doesn't have to repair these if they were included in the report.
 
needing rental history is a pain.

The first (and only) time I rented, was with another guy. So 2x25 year old guys with no rental history looked bad apparently.

We had refererences from our Pastor (we are goodie goodies) and work. We don't drink or smoke. No pets. We had a combined income of $2500 per week. The other guy worked 3 jobs, 1 of which was his own business, the other 2 (and mine) where white colar jobs. We didn't want pets, we were polite, handed in applications promptly.

Eventually we found a place, took 6 months though and we paid above market for it. We got it filithy, left it imaculate. They had very high maintainnce gardens which we originally said we wouldn't maintain before signing up, in the ened we did maintain them.

Land lords want way too much from the tenants, even when they are good tenants.

In the end, the land lord contacted me directly thanking us for how we left the place.
 
Hi eXc, the very first tenants we ever had were four young men (all working) sharing a four bedroom, two bathroom house. Rent always paid on time, house looked after really well, and the gardens although a bit neglected were brought back to pristine condition when they vacated. We were sorry to lose them.

Give me tenants like that anytime, rental history or not.
 
Is rental history important? Interesting question. If people dont have rental history, then yes you have to make a decision based on other matters, and be a bit creative. If people have been renting, and have a good history, they will have evidence of it. If people have a bad history, what do you think they will do? My experience, is falsify and hid as much as they can, and build a pretty good yarn around what ever material they have. Does a leopard change its spots ..... Its in this situation that yes, rental history and knowing about it is important.
 
Thanks everyone for the helpful advice and interesting opinion. I wish I can have someone like eXc to be my tenant! I did give the ones without rental history a go, but it turned out to be a mistake with my last (first) tenant. He passed all the other reference checks and I met him personally who looked like a gentleman. But he was then behind and behind in rents, only paid when we issued letter after letter.

The only applicant who has moderately acceptable rental history has pulled out because they decided to buy a house. Well, I'm back to square one. Should I stick to anyone with rental history or not? Certainly, I will think about using the 3-month trial lease.
 
The rental I got through an agent in 2002 was just after I sold my first house and I got a reference from the real estate agent, I thought it would be a bit weird going back to share house references from before then, particularly as the last rental I was in before that was a corner splitter and we were just there to keep the holding costs down before the developer sold it.

Some of the agents I hit when looking for rentals at that time and since asked for SO much, even more than banks do when you get a loan. It feels really invasive.

I have dubious as hell tenants in at the moment who tried to pull a fast one but I got tipped off. I get my rent in full (less 99c Centrepay fee) and on time thanks to that tip off and a long talk to their previous PM (who replaced one who was apparently incompetant), and they get a nice cheap house where we change the washers and light globes. Win-win. I've spent about $70 on maintainence on that house now, and $45 of that was a shower curtain rail that we really should have put in before they moved in anyway.
 
I find rental forms really invasive as well. They ask for much more info than a loan application.

Payslips i get, but bank statements to show them how much money you got?

From a property owner's point of view, I dont see how showing me you got $100,000 in your bank account is going to help me in anyway. Its great you got money, but as if you're going to give it to me because you've damaged the place.

As long as they are employed in a steady job and can afford the rent and have a good rental history, what more is required?

That said, I just started renting and had no rental history and got the place. It probably didnt hurt that I had a chat with the PM beforehand either :)
 
Rental application forms are no way as invasive as the ones we undertake for commercial leases.

We require asset and liability statements signed off by accountants, company and personal checks etc.
 
neK said:
Payslips i get, but bank statements to show them how much money you got?

That said, I just started renting and had no rental history and got the place. It probably didnt hurt that I had a chat with the PM beforehand either :)
Click to expand...

We only ask for bank statements if you cannot provide us with any pay slips or paper that shows you get some kind of income. We don't care how much you have in your account per se, we like to see regular deposits of an amount that will cover the rent, from anywhere we don't care where as long as it's legal.

Never hurts to chat to the PM, I always tell people on the phone that want the best chance at getting a property is to talk to the PM don't simply pick up an application form and go on your merry way because many PM's like sussing out a potential tenant before putting them into a property.
 
neK said:
From a property owner's point of view, I dont see how showing me you got $100,000 in your bank account is going to help me in anyway. Its great you got money, but as if you're going to give it to me because you've damaged the place.
Click to expand...

Probably so the agent knows if you are a potential client on the more important sales side of the business. We have never been asked for this information but our PM (we are renters) will often ask if she has to find us another home to rent or whether she can finally sell us one... I suspect I know which part of the business is the money spinner for them, and it's not property management.

Otherwise I would not have thought it is as important as a good rental reference, as you could have 100k in the bank and still left places in a mess or not paid the rent on time etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Xenia IM
Should tenants be given multiple chances?
2 3
Replies
46
Views
7K
turk
T
C
Who pays?
Replies
17
Views
2K
Salvatore1
S
devank
Inefficiencies of PMs
Replies
7
Views
4K
Genia
Genia
E
Will you take this application?
2
Replies
25
Views
3K
balwoges
balwoges
W
Have dropped rent by $35... ouch!
2 3
Replies
51
Views
9K
Nick Valsamis
N
Back
Top